1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program product executable by a computer and an information processing system, and in particular, it relates to a system and a method for reducing electrical power consumption of a monitor device that is connected to a computer terminal according to a time setting in the computer terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional information processing apparatuses such as computer terminals are increasingly used in a configuration wherein the computer terminals are activated automatically at a time specified by users to perform operations such as e-mail receipt, virus check, TV recording and the like. In such configuration, input/output devices such as monitor devices connected to the computer terminals are powered on at the same time when the computer terminals are activated (see patent documents 1, 2 and 3)
[Patent Document 1]
    Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-041397[Patent Document 2]    Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-053066[Patent Document 3]    Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-190855).
In the prior arts described above, there is a problem in that electric power may be consumed uselessly because the input/output devices such as the monitor devices may be powered on even when the users are not in front of the input/output devices. Though the monitor devices typically determine whether or not to enter into power saving mode depending on the presence or absence of a video signal (a synchronization signal), in some operating conditions in which the computer terminals cannot turn off the video signal, the monitor devices cannot enter into the power saving mode and the electric power is wasted continuously even during an unattended operation. Furthermore, if the computer terminals are configured by the users to be activated automatically while the users are sleeping, e.g. at midnight, there is another problem in that the users' sleep may be disturbed due to the brightness of the monitor devices and the sound from speakers.